Hamnet

The Royal Shakespeare Company’s acclaimed production of Hamnet embarks on a major UK & Ireland tour from September 2027.

Based on Maggie O’Farrell’s best-selling novel, now also an Oscar-winning film, Hamnet has been adapted for the stage by award-winning playwright Lolita Chakrabarti (Life of Pi, Red Velvet, Hymn). This powerful story is a love letter to passion, birth, grief and the magic of nature.

Directed by former RSC Deputy and Acting Artistic Director Erica Whyman, Hamnet premiered at the Swan Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon, breaking box office records before transferring to the West End and opening to the biggest advance in the Garrick Theatre’s history. Now audiences across the UK can experience this critically acclaimed play which pulls back the curtain on the story of the greatest writer in the English language and the woman who was the constant presence and purpose of his life.

Warwickshire, 1582. Agnes Hathaway, a natural healer, meets the Latin tutor, William Shakespeare. Drawn together by powerful but hidden impulses, they create a life together and make a family.

When the plague steals 11-year-old Hamnet from his loving parents, they must each confront their loss alone. And yet, out of the greatest suffering, something of extraordinary wonder is born.